Most of the discussion about safety razors is about aggressiveness vis a vis mildness. Most of the time that is expressed in terms of the gap between the blade and the safety bar. I have no doubt that it represents part of the formula of aggressiveness, but, i have learned that aggressiveness is a bit more complex. It also has to do with exposure of the blade and the angle in which the blade is held vis a vis the safety bar. For example, the Timeless .95 is considered a somewhat aggressive razor. The Asylum Evolution is plenty aggressive also, but it has no gap. Why is it that the discussion centers around gap dimensions and never around the other two factors? Why there is never any measurements of the exposure or the angle of the blade??? Shouldn't all them be considered?

Completely agree. Add to your analysis--head design, weight of the head and handle (individually and together), among factors I haven't even contemplated. The only time that Blade Gap has any relevance to me is when all other variables are constant. For instance, comparing a Timeless SB .68 to a Timeless SB .95. Then you see that Blade Gap makes a marginal difference.

(02-28-2017, 12:37 PM)Never2Close Wrote: Completely agree. Add to your analysis--head design, weight of the head and handle (individually and together), among factors I haven't even contemplated. The only time that Blade Gap has any relevance to me is when all other variables are constant. For instance, comparing a Timeless SB .68 to a Timeless SB .95. Then you see that Blade Gap makes a marginal difference.

You are right. Those other factors are huge! Then again, the biggest one of them all is technique... if we all concentrate more on that than on gap, then everyone would have better shaves, collectively. :-)

I agree with the above, and would add that the angle at which the razor is held to the face, whether steeper or shallower, makes a difference in 'aggression' or efficiency, as does the amount of pressure applied.

The metric which makes most sense to me is one that was shared with me by a mentor of mine-total blade exposure; that is, how much of the blade is exposed to the face for how long, and at what pressure during the shave.

A 'mild' minimum-gap razor can be made to perform very efficiently by altering those variables, and an 'aggressive' large-gap razor can be made to perform mildly.

I pay no attention to those labels. No matter how mild or aggressive a razor is deemed to be, I cannot achieve the results I desire with less than three passes and four doesn't net me any better. So comfort is the characteristic that matters to me. And the blade used. Generally speaking though there are way more razors and blades that work for me than don't.